Category Archives: Notes – Misc.

SeekingNew Video: End Seeking Forever – Liberation from the Lie — This fellow has made available a free video on YouTube in which he claims has the power to end spiritual seeking forever — literally answering all questions about discovering the Authentic Self.

Collective Evolution 2

Jobs
Leapforce
Friday, May 04, 2012

check out a company called leapforce
they hire at home search engine evaluators

Kristen Burgess: List of aricles at ezine articles; also the owner of Milk and Mud

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kristen_Burgess

Success
Self Growth

http://www.selfgrowth.com/

Biology

New Spiders Discovered
Oregon and California residents, watch out for some new eight-legged friends! Scientists say they have found a new family of spiders in caves in the two states. The arachnids, which are about 2.75 inches long, have been named “Trogloraptors,” or “cave robbers.” Even creepier? They have pointed claws. It’s been 140 years since the last discovery of this kind, and doubtless there are some people out there who hope it will be another 140 before the next one.

20120807
Mitt Romney Ad Criticizes Obama For Welfare Policy Romney Supported As Governor
Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign released a television ad Tuesday bashing President Barack Obama for implementing a welfare policy that Romney supported when he was governor of Massachusetts.

20120809
Obama Pushes to Extend Wind Subsidy
President Obama dug at Mitt Romney’s opposition to subsidies like one for wind energy producers that’s about to expire and others that offer tax credits for cleaner oil alternatives. “The wind industry supports about 5,000 jobs across this state,” the President said near a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Pueblo, Colorado Thursday. “Without those tax credits, 37,000 American jobs, potentially including hundreds of jobs right here, would be at risk.” Obama touted, to a supportive crowd, the benefits of clean energy as a means of competing with other countries instead of continuing to subsidize the oil industry with $4 billion a year. The tax credit on companies that produce wind energy has been consistently renewed for the past twenty years but is set to expire at the end of this year. While Obama advocates renewing it again, Mitt Romney has made clear that, if elected, he’d let the subsidy die.

Report: Gunman Abused Alcohol 20120807
The gunman who killed six at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., on Sunday struggled with alcohol, according to investigators. Wade Michael Page was booted from the Army in 1998 for showing up intoxicated to military exercises. A year later he was cited for drunk driving in Colorado. Page worked as a truck driver from 2006 to 2010, when the company fired him after he was charged with driving while impaired in North Carolina. After losing his job, Page fell into financial trouble and wasn’t able to keep up with the mortgage payments on his house. He was foreclosed on in January.

Page Wanted ‘Racial Holy War’ 20120807
New details have emerged regarding Wade Michael Page’s life before the shooting at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee. In the Army, Page rose to the rank of sergeant before losing a stripe due to “patterns of misconduct.” Christopher Robillard, who described Page as his “closest friend” in the service, recalled that Page would often talk about a “racial holy war.” Robillard said, “He would talk about the racial holy war, like he wanted it to come.” After being discharged from the Army, Page moved to Denver where he joined a “racist band.” The FBI said that Page may also have been involved with the white supremacist movement, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Louisiana School: No Pregnant Girls 20120807
A Louisiana public charter school is receiving the wrath of the ACLU after it was revealed they were demanding female students take pregnancy tests if they are suspected of being pregnant — and forcing them to leave school if the tests came back positive. The ACLU sent a letter to the Delhi Charter School Monday calling the policy unconstitutional and “in clear violation of federal law.” The K-12 public school justifies its “student pregnancy policy” as a way to ensure students “exhibit acceptable character traits.”

Where is God’s snowflake machine?
Probably the most common argument that creationists use in defense of their crazy delusions is that if something looks designed, and its not designed by humans, then there is no possible other explanation except that an invisible all-powerful god did it; and of course that god is always the Christian god, never Zeus or Mithra, but I digress.

http://www.scottklarr.com/topic/406/where-is-gods-snowflake-machine/

Hypocrisy of religion #1: Bill O’Reilly vs. 8 yr-old girl
Christianity is no better than Islam when it comes to ignorantly and arrogantly self-proclaiming their superiority to all other beliefs; They both in belief and in practice stand that anybody who opposes their ideas should be prosecuted.

20120809
Mars Landscape ‘Earth-Like’
The Curiosity rover took pictures from beyond the Gale Crater for the first time since landing on Sunday night. The images it sent back from looking toward the northern Horizon looked very similar to another planet. “The first impression that you get is how Earth-like this seems looking at that landscape,” a scientist at the California Institute of Technology said. Curiosity has sent back a slew of images since landing. There was concern that the swirl of dust caused by the landing thrusters had made rovers too dusty, but Justin Maki of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory disputed that. “We do see a thin coating of dust, but nothing too bad.”

20120806
Curiosity Sends Back Photos
The Curiosity Mars rover is safely landed on the floor of Gale Crater on mars and has already begun transmitting pictures back to scientists on Earth. Grainy black-and-white photos show landscape of the red planet and soon, after the main camera is set up, high-resolution color photos will begin being sent back. “To me, it’s representative of a successful landing on Mars, it’s representative of a new home for the rover, it’s representative of a new Mars that we’ve never seen before,” says mission manager Mike Watkins. “And so every one of those pictures is the most beautiful picture I’ve ever seen.” The two-year, $2.5 billion project’s goal is to seek out signs of whether life on Mars was ever possible…

20120807
Floods Ravage Manila
A third of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is under water. The head of the government disaster relief agency referred to the crisis as “Waterworld,” as thousands remain trapped on roofs. Last week’s storms and subsequent flooding have left 50 dead and forced 250,000 to evacuate. Manila streets were completely submerged, closing schools and offices. Rescue workers used rafts to access slum areas. Tuesday, nine were killed in a Quezon City slum after a landslide. Manila, which has an overpopulated 10 million residents, is located in low-lying land between a lake and the ocean.

20120809
Gauss Spyware Infects Lebanon
Security researchers at Kaspersky Labs have found a strange new cyber-espionage tool, and they say it’s from the same state-sponsored hackers who designed an espionage tool that recently flooded Iranian computers. The new spyware is called Gauss and it has infected at least 2,500 computers, mostly in Lebanon. Researchers say it may be the first example of state-sponsored cyberwarfare that includes the stealing of login information—in this case, banking credentials. One of them said that unlike other recently-discovered spyware, Gauss seems to have multiple purposes. “When you look at Stuxnet and DuQu, they were obviously single-goal operations,” he said. “But here I think what you see is a broader operation happening all in one.”

SEO training
Kelly: you REALLY should apply for search engine evaluator with butlerhill.com
I’ve just been offered my second chance to qualify
(didn’t pass the first project)

Freelance Work

WEB SEARCH EVALUATORS – US

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DESCRIPTION

Web Search Evaluators work on interesting projects that are geared to improve search engine results for their country. The work generally includes reviewing and evaluating internet search results based on specific search terms and providing a rating. The evaluation work is typically done using online automated tools.
Web Search Evaluators work 4 hours per day (Monday-Friday) and have the flexibility to choose the hours they wish to work each day.
This project requires a commitment to work 20-22 hours per week. Project work is expected to extend through August 16th, 2013, with a possible further extension.
To qualify to be accepted onto the project, Web Search Evaluators must first complete a rigorous qualification process that requires successfully completing a review of qualification materials and a series of exams. The qualification process may involve up to 25-40 hours of commitment over 1-3 week period.
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Personal PC or laptop that runs Windows Vista or Windows 7 (please note, netbook devices, Windows XP and Apple O/S, including Apple O/S running on virtual environments, are not compatible with project), and a minimum screen resolution of 1280 X 768; desired resolution is 1280 X 1024
A high-speed internet connection (preferably unlimited usage; if limited, download cap must not be less than 100 GB per month)
Basic aptitude for solving technical/software issues independently
Detail-oriented and organized with strong time-management skills and the ability to manage a 20-22 hours per week self- directed work schedule
Strong communication skills
Familiar with current cultural, political, business and media affairs, in addition to extensive familiarity with a wide variety of online news sources published in the United States
Avid internet enthusiast with excellent web research and analytical capabilities

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Notes: June 2012

TOP: A list: Possible research subjects

Monday, June 11, 2012

1. Charles Darwin
2. Is Dan Millman a Christian? Add this common search phrase to similar article you posted re: Wayne Dyer’s teaching as blasphemy
3. A helpful perspective in pursuit of religious truth: Many Christians avoid all media that purports non-Christian views… even though the subject of a documentary film or article may be interesting, if words such as “here’s why I don’t believe in God…” appear, it will be dropped like a hot potato. There are several reasons for this avoidance, most of which are based on various types and levels of fear.

Consider these films

A Perfect Getaway
Gamer
Chronicle
Safe House (D. Washington)
The Next Three Days (R. Crowe) – Saw it; amazing
Convicted (C. Nielsen)
Enter Nowhere (Scott Eastwood)
I am Number Four

Climate shift sensationalism, fear-mongering

Thursday, June 21, 2012Doomsday Environmental Fearmongers Will Not Go Away
These “scientists” and the United Nations make a living from instilling fear in people, coercing them to pay higher taxes giving them more control. The late, lamented Michael Crichton was “spot on” with his book “State of Fear”. Nature will pretty much take its course, no matter what us “insignificant” humans do. Giving money to these self-serving “scientists” and the United Nations is a total waste… Do a search for Michael Crichton on this blog for much more information on his expose’ of environmental fear tactics.

Climate change, population growth and environmental destruction could cause a collapse of the ecosystem just a few generations from now, scientists warned on Wednesday in the journal Nature… The paper by 22 top researchers said a “tipping point” by which the biosphere goes into swift and irreversible change, with potentially cataclysmic impacts for humans, could occur as early as this century… The warning contrasts with a mainstream view among scientists that environmental collapse would be gradual and take centuries.

The study appears ahead of the June 20-22 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the 20-year followup to the Earth Summit that set down priorities for protecting the environment.
The Nature paper, written by biologists, ecologists, geologists and palaeontologists from three continents, compared the biological impact of past episodes of global change with what is happening today.

Forums to join & participate

Religion & Spirituality » Atheists and Agnostics
Although anyone is welcome to participate, the DU Atheists and Agnostics Group is a place where atheists and agnostics can engage in frank discussions about the effects of religion on politics, free of debate about the existence of a deity or deities. In this forum it is inappropriate to belittle those with religious beliefs or to engage in demeaning or hateful speech toward members of DU who may hold such beliefs. Those who do believe in a deity should be aware that the underlying assumption for discussions in this Group is that either “god” does not exist or that the existence of “god” is in doubt. If you are offended by such notions, you probably should not participate in this Group.
Source: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12301040

Old-fashioned state governments, including the state government in Nashville, Tennessee, continue to push for laws protecting against non-existent “threats.” Perhaps the best examples are laws against the gay community.

That’s Right, It’s Not Africa. It’s Tennessee.
It is a national embarrassment that people in our country have to camp out to see a doctor they can afford. I mean, if this video doesn’t make you think there’s something very fucked up in our country, I can’t imagine what will. These are people in our state who depend on a guy in a truck to show up and get them glasses, who don’t even know that they have spots on their lungs from smoking because they can’t get an X-ray, unless it’s from this program. And the workable response we have to their health care needs is to treat it like a regularly occurring natural disaster, complete with people camping out in sports stadiums waiting for volunteer help to arrive. (Source: http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2012/06/21/thats-right-its-not-africa-its-tennessee )

Politics

Thursday, June 21, 2012Mitt to Florida: Hush Up on Jobs
Things are bad, no matter how good they look. That’s the message the Romney campaign sent down to Florida, sources told Bloomberg News, where Governor Rick Scott has been tooting his own job-creation horn a little too much for the Romney camp’s liking. The governor’s office released materials this week heralding a drop in the state’s unemployment rate from 8.7 percent to 8.6 percent. Joblessness in Florida is down from 11.1 percent in December 2010, when Scott was sworn in. But sort of good news is bad news for the Romney campaign, which wants to ride a wave of dissatisfaction with the economy straight to the White House, sources say. So hush up, Guv.

Poll: Most Blame Bush for Economy
This certainly isn’t W.’s day. According to a Gallup poll released Thursday, 68 percent of Americans blame former president George W. Bush for the country’s economic woes. A full 90 percent of Democrats who responded said Bush is to blame for the weak economy, and only 19 percent said Obama should carry much of the blame. As for Republicans, they were more split: 49 percent said Bush had a moderate amount or a great deal of the blame while 51 percent said Bush deserved not much of the blame or none at all. The poll had 1,000 respondents and was conducted by telephone from June 7 to June 10.

The message of the American Stonehenge also foreshadowed the current drive for Sustainable Development. Any time you hear the phrase “Sustainable Development” used, you should substitute the term “socialism” to be able to understand what is intended. Later in this syllabus you will read the full text of the Earth Charter which was compiled under the direction of Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong. In that document you will find an emphasis on the same basic issues: control of reproduction, world governance, the importance of nature and the environment, and a new spirituality. The similarity between the ideas engraved on the Georgia Guidestones and those espoused in the Earth Charter reflect the common origins of both.

Religion: Objective viewpoint

Friday, June 15, 2012
Faith ceases to be a virtue when it has little connection with facts of reality – Irish Times ()ct. 2011)

Monday, June 11, 2012First Things
First Things is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society.

I am an ordained, fundamentalist evangelical Christian minister — and an atheist. It might seem counterintuitive to read such a sentence, but a surprising number of ministers are rejecting religious belief.

None of us became ministers expecting to leave religion behind; we were authentic, strong, sincere, faithful clergy and practitioners of our faiths. Changing our minds about religion does not make us inherently bad or immoral people, uncharitable, dishonest, hostile, lacking in knowledge or common sense, deviants, or any of the other epithets frequently used to malign nonbelievers.

The Clergy Project
The Clergy Project is a confidential online community for active and former clergy who do not hold supernatural beliefs. The Clergy Project launched on March 21st, 2011.

Currently, the community’s 280 plus members use it to network and discuss what it’s like being an unbelieving leader in a religious community. The Clergy Project’s goal is to support members as they move beyond faith. Members freely discuss issues related to their transition from believer to unbeliever including:

• Wrestling with intellectual, ethical, philosophical and theological issues
• Coping with cognitive dissonance
• Addressing feelings of being stuck and fearing the future
• Looking for new careers
• Telling their families
• Sharing useful resources
• Living as a nonbeliever with religious spouses and family
• Using humor to soften the pain
• Finding a way out of the ministry
• Adjusting to life after the ministry

Religion: Hard Right, fundamentalism, etc.

Begin
Begin is an eye-opening journey through Scriptures that are especially key for new believers and those interested in learning about Christianity. Discover the promises of Jesus and the expectations that come in your relationship with Him. You’ll enjoy a quick and concise presentation of core concepts that help cement your faith’s foundation. With insights from Genesis 1–11 (the foundation), Exodus 20:1–17 (the Ten Commandments), John (the Gospel), Romans (a letter from Paul to Christians), and Revelation 21–22 (the fulfillment in heaven), Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge present a foundational overview that you can build your Bible study upon!

Religious attempts at logical argument
Ultimate Proof of Creation (The)
There is a defense for creation that is powerful, conclusive, and has no true rebuttal. As such, it is an irrefutable argument—an “ultimate proof” of the Christian worldview. Master the extremely logical method outlined in this book and you will be able to defend Christianity against all opposition.
Discerning Truth
Discerning Truth is a new, practical and extremely engaging book on the use of logic in the quest for truth regarding man’s origin.
Already Gone – Book
The next generation is calling it quits on the traditional church. And it’s not just happening on the nominal fringe; it’s happening at the core of the faith! This powerful book reveals shocking trends and offers wisdom on how to win back our families, our churches, and our world!
Ultimate Apologetics Boxed Set (4 DVDs)
4-DVD boxed set. With clear teaching and easy-to-understand illustrations, astrophysicist Dr. Jason Lisle reveals how to defend Genesis against all criticism. ($51.96 value.)

Already Gone
The next generation is calling it quits on the traditional church. And it’s not just happening on the nominal fringe; it’s happening at the core of the faith! This powerful book reveals shocking trends and offers wisdom on how to win back our families, our churches, and our world!

http://alreadygonebook.wordpress.com/

Tea Party & religionTuesday, June 19, 2012
The Tea Party and Religion – Pew Forum

Tuesday, June 19, 2012Hatred in Christian fundamentalism
Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus – Huff Post
The results from a recent poll published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Tea-Party-and-Religion.aspx) reveal what social scientists have known for a long time: White Evangelical Christians are the group least likely to support politicians or policies that reflect the actual teachings of Jesus. It is perhaps one of the strangest, most dumb-founding ironies in contemporary American culture. Evangelical Christians, who most fiercely proclaim to have a personal relationship with Christ, who most confidently declare their belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, who go to church on a regular basis, pray daily, listen to Christian music, and place God and His Only Begotten Son at the center of their lives, are simultaneously the very people most likely to reject his teachings and despise his radical message.

ACLU, NRAMonday, June 11, 2012
Steve D. recently listed two hated organizations: the ACLU and the NRA.Tuesday, June 19, 2012
I was thinking about looking into these organizations for a quick review, just to see if I agree with Steve on this. I think I already disagree about the ACLU; despite so many shocking headlines and defenses, they are doing it for a solid reason. The ACLU would be far less effective if it only accepted cases that didn’t sound odd, negative, or otherwise shocking. Interesting that he chose one mostly right-wing group and one left.

Terminology: Hard Right, etc.
Jingoistic

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/jingoistic

Jingoism
Jingoism is extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy.[1] In practice, it is a country’s advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, it refers to excessive bias in judging one’s own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism. The term originated in Britain, expressing a pugnacious attitude towards Russia in the 1870s. “Jingoism” did not enter the American vernacular until near the end of the 19th century. This nationalistic belligerence was intensified by the sinking of the battleship USS Maine in Havana harbour that led to the Spanish-American War of 1898

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingoism

Christian Gallery: Heavy pro-life

http://www.christiangallery.com/

June 1, 2012
Christian view of New Thought teachings
Wayne Dyer: The Wisdom of the New Spirituality, by Marcia Montenegro, Written 2008 (page 1 of 2) – Christian Answers for the New Age

http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_WayneDyerEssay.html

Conspiracy theory
InfoWars

http://www.infowars.com/resources.html

Religion: Skepticism

Metro State Atheists – George Carlin video clip

http://metrostateatheists.wordpress.com/2009/03/

http://irrev-black.com/

Science: Astronomy

Wednesday, June 13, 2012
NASA to Launch Telescope
A powerful new X-ray telescope will soon be on the prowl for supermassive black holes, the invisible remnants left when stars die. Called the NuStar by NASA, the telescope will be strapped to the back of a Pegasus XL rocket and launched into space from an island halfway between Hawaii and Australia on Wednesday. While black holes can’t be seen, the telescope will penetrate clouds of gas and dust for

Technology: Web

If you’re interested in the methodology and math behind these interesting points, you can read the entire paper online at PLoS One, but you’ll need a solid foundation of statistics to understand it. On the other hand, you can investigate the topic yourself by going to any Wikipedia page and clicking the “Talk” or “View history” buttons at the top. The discussion of the entry can at times be as worthwhile to read as the entry itself.

It’s well-known that information on Wikipedia is essentially peer-reviewed opinion, and this study shows just how lively those peers — and that review process — can be. But while the details are constantly under heated debate, the result is often a compromise that cleaves very closely to fact, despite being the middle ground between several ideas of the truth.

Movies

The Master Trailer Debuts
An official trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master was released Monday, giving a sneak peek into the long-awaited film that has been dubbed Anderson’s “Scientology movie.” The film is supposed to look at the origins of Scientology, but the trailer mainly features star Joaquin Phoenix being zonked out and grilled by a naval officer about his misbehavior. In earlier press reports, Phoenix has been listed as playing disciple to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s religious leader, but the trailer mainly featured Phoenix. Amy Adams and Laura Dern co-star in the film, which is scheduled to open Oct. 12.
Source: The Master Trailer Debuts – The Daily Beast

Persians vs. Arabs

A closer look later

http://24ways.org/2007/increase-your-font-stacks-with-font-matrix

Mindtech

http://www.mindtech.com.vu/

James F. Coyle was the founder and CEO of the AUSTRALIAN MINDPOWER RESEARCH FOUNDATION and initially published under his pen name of Jim Francis. He has written 17 of the most innovative self-help and motivational books all available on Amazon. They are unique, different, and thought-provoking. They are regarded as the best of the kind on the market today. (Source: Personal web site of James F. Coyle

Quotes

(Gazing at the starry sky after unearthing alien life in the Antarctic)
“I’ll never look at them the same again.”
(The Thing, 2011 sci-fi film)

Technology

Chrome Is Most-Used Browser
It unseated Firefox last December for second place, and now Google’s Chrome has surpassed Internet Explorer to become the most-used Web browser worldwide. Between May 14 and May 20, Chrome logged the most hours of surfing, beating Internet Explorer for the first time. Apple’s Safari placed a distant third. Internet Explorer still dominates in the U.S., but new users in India and South America propelled Chrome’s rise to the top.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheets/2012/05/22/cheat-sheet.html

https://join.me/

http://area203.com/

Command Line Idiot

http://www.commandlineidiot.com/blog/

WordPress plugin: Realtime sitemap

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-realtime-sitemap/

Questions

Why can’t radar detect surfaces that are completely flat? It seems like it would bounce back just fine.

Perspective

What are some of the best illustrations of universal perspective? For getting our heads around huge numbers, quantum sizes, and so on?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch

Science

What are some of the best metaphors, explanations, and teaching tools to help us understand science, scientific principles, etc.?

New research by environmental neuroscientists at the University of Utah and the University of Kansas indicates that hiking does more than just improve your health, it also makes you smarter. This according to an article in the May issue of Backpacker Magazine. The researchers involved in this study hypothesize that exposure to nature causes significant, measurable changes to the brain. Changes that allow clearer thinking, increased ability to focus, while also allowing the opportunity to function at one’s highest cognitive ability. (Source: Hiking Research)

Solar Savings America

https://solarsavingsamerica.com/

Religion

Process theology – Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_theology

Process theism – Stanford — Process theism typically refers to a family of theological ideas originating in, inspired by, or in agreement with the metaphysical orientation of the English philosopher-mathematician Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) and the American philosopher-ornithologist Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000). For both Whitehead and Hartshorne, it is an essential attribute of God to be fully involved in and affected by temporal processes. This idea contrasts neatly with traditional forms of theism that hold God to be in all respects non-temporal (eternal), unchanging (immutable,) and unaffected by the world (impassible). Process theism does not deny that God is in some respects eternal, immutable, and impassible, but it contradicts the classical view by insisting that God is in some respects temporal, mutable, and passible.

1. Everything is in process; reality is flowing; nothing ever stays the same.
2. All things are interconnected; no human is an island; things are present in one another even as they have their autonomy.
3. The whole of nature has value; all live beings deserve respect; human beings are not the sole repository of value.
4. Human beings find happiness in sharing experiences with others; there are no isolated egos; all selves are selves-in-relation; humans become whole through reciprocity.
5. The essence of the universe is a continuous creativity of which all things are expressions; there is creativity in plants and animals, hills and rivers, trees and stars.
6. All beings seek harmony as their guiding ideal; harmony includes differences; the whole of the universe is a harmony of harmonies.
7. Thinking and emotion cannot be sharply separated; mind and body are not two; even thinking is a form of feeling; aesthetic wisdom and rational inquiry are complementary.
8. Every moment of human experience begins, not with projecting things onto the world or even acting in the world, but with feeling the presence of the world and being affected by it.

The Disaffected Lib: Dedicated to the Restoration of Progressive Democracy

http://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html

Social reality: The Vicious Cycle – Amerika

http://www.amerika.org/social-reality/the-vicious-cycle/

List of proverbial pairs: This is a list of proverbial or idiomatic pairs or pairs employed in common spoken or written usage. For a complete listing of pairs see Lists of pairs. For a list sorted by name see List of pairs by name. Definitely a useful reference for writers!

It is such a deep pleasure to share tidbits of thought, wonder, and contemplation with anyone who happens to stumble upon this little blog of mine. Thanks for reading.

What is the highest activity, according to some philosophers and spiritual teachers?

On the set of Wishes Fulfilled, Wayne Dyer quotes one of Aristotle’s most famous conclusions:

Contemplation is the highest form of activity.

The Rebirth of Reason provides a more involved summary of contemplation, from the great minds of Aristotle and Rand:

Now at the end of Aristotle’s discussion of these various themes, he comes to equate the highest ethical concept with the notion of theoria, or contemplation. Thus at the end of all of our actions we can see that contemplation is the highest virtue. “But if happiness consists in activity in accordance with virtue, it is reasonable that it should be activity in accordance with the highest virtue; and this will be the virtue of the best part of us.” Rand would certainly agree with this assessment for she said that one of the highest and noble achievements of art is that it allows us the capacity to contemplate man “the ideal.” Aristotle goes on to say at NE 1177a 20, that “contemplation is at once the highest form of activity (since the intellect is the highest thing in us, and the objects with which the intellect deals are the highest things that can be known), and also it is the most continuous, for we can reflect more continuously than we can carry on any form of action.” This statement does not devalue the role of activity at all; it merely provides the basis for considering unity in a man’s life, and the central place for contemplation of the ideal. (Source: Contemplation or heightened consciousness: Some Contending Aesthetic Approaches – Rebirth of Reason)

Music: The incredible soul-stirrer

At 3:15am, I decided to watch one of my favorite movies from the 70s: The Mephisto Waltz. My goodness, I’d forgotten how heavy the emphasis was upon great music in this film – specifically, classical piano!

In particular, the performance of a Mozart piano duet by two of the main characters in the film was quite the soul-stirrer. Mozart was simply a genius.

Though many would disagree, I must say that such music is spiritual in nature. Mozart was passionate about music, to say the least, which – to many — is the equivalent of experiencing the Tao, Mother Nature, or God.

A Franz Liszt work inspired the film’s title…

What is the sound of an exploding star in space?

Although an exploding star is one of the biggest bangs possible in the universe we so far have come to know, love, and even fear — it isn’t something anyone would ever hear.

A brief consideration of the science of hearing will divulge the simple reasoning behind the silence. Sound moves in waves which are made possible by the air, just as ripples from a rock thrown into a lake are made possible only in water. Of course, space is astoundingly empty, with no air to speak of — and thus, no medium for sound waves.